


Down to the depths we go (as we sink right to the bottom)

by Kagemoto



Series: The Holofic Bucket [1]
Category: Virtual Streamer Animated Characters
Genre: Angst, no betas we die like men, the fall of atlantis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:21:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28809561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kagemoto/pseuds/Kagemoto
Summary: Gura and Calliope never had their first meeting in Japan.Their first meeting was in a much more tragic setting, many millennia ago.
Series: The Holofic Bucket [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112159
Comments: 9
Kudos: 62





	Down to the depths we go (as we sink right to the bottom)

** The end was sudden, unexpected, but in the end, always inevitable. **

** No matter how hard you fight or try to resist, you could only ever delay the inevitable. **

** For time will always pass, things will always change, and eventually, everything reaches its end. **

** And now it was time for everything to change once again. **

* * *

As Gawr Gura hurriedly swam through the collapsing streets of Atlantis with all her might, desperately pushing herself forward to avoid the deadly lahar as it flowed unrelentingly behind her, she tried to block out the screams of her fellow Atlantians as they were either crushed by the falling debris of the collapsing buildings or consumed by the deadly pyroclastic flow's merciless pace.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," she murmured to herself hazily, as her vision began to blur around the edges and exhaustion began taking its toll "It was supposed to be just a normal day... How...? Why...?"

Cutting own her words off to save her breath and forcing away the tears blurring her eyes with a quick shake of her head, Gura forced her feet and tail to keep kicking, ignoring the burning pain of her body as she kept pushing beyond her limits to swim onward past the increasingly unstable infrastructure of her home.

She couldn't stop swimming, she couldn't stop moving, even as her vision began to blur and darken around the edges, even if her body began to weigh like lead... She had to keep moving forward.

She had to survive.

And so, she kept moving, even as her lungs began to burn, her pace started to slow, and her skin began to scald, she kept pushing on and on until she couldn't feel anything beyond the cool water parting around her face as she kept pushing forward.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity she managed to hazily make out the archway that marked the entrance to the city and felt a jolt of energy burst from her chest.

It was a way out! If she could just get past the gate, if she could just keep moving forward just a little longer, she'd make it!

All she had to do was to keep moving.

Keep pushing.

Keep going.

Keep-

Gura felt herself painfully jerk to a halt as a whole new sun of pain burst from the fins of her tail, causing her to gasp in shock as all at once, she felt her body fall limp and unresponsive to all her attempts at movement.

No! NONONO!

She was so close!

Safety was right there!

All she had to do was get to it.

She had to- had to-

* * *

Mori stood impassively as she watched the Last Atlantian trash madly in the water, her tail pinned underneath a large piece of rubble that was showing no signs of moving, despite the now hysterical exertions of the Atlantian.

Unheeding of the cooling magma underneath her feet, Mori let herself descend to the floor and began gliding towards the shark girl, her scythe at the ready between her bony fingers.

As she neared, she began to raise her scythe high into the air in preparation to swing, and once she was within range-

** She brought her scythe down mercilessly, causing a spray of blood to blossom and dye the water red with blood. **

The Atlantian let out an ear-piercing shriek, causing Mori to wince and put one hand to the side of her skull to block out the noise.

**"She was more shrill than Kiara geez,"** Mori commented as she watched the Atlantian fall limp and begin to slowly float down towards the ocean's floor, **"I didn't think anyone could be louder than she was... kind of impressive actually..."**

**"Now then..."** Mori sighed, as nudged the unconscious girl with her foot, **"I'm not sure why I had to do this or why Sensei says I should just leave her be and not claim her soul... but I kinda feel bad leaving her here. Maybe I could..."**

Softly murmuring herself, Mori rolled the shark girl over on her back and began trying to make sure that the girl be would be lying in a comfortable position.

Try anyways.

What with lacking human flesh and all, Mori could only manage to move around the girl's limbs in increasingly uncomfortable positions until-

* * *

Gura woke up with a start, jolting violently in place, before biting back a scream as her body was hit with all the pain and exhaustion she had been ignoring up until this moment.

She was alive? How was it possible? She could have sworn that she would have ended up waking in the afterlife...

As she lay there disoriented from the pain and shock over her survival, she became aware of a presence beside her, one that felt like it was both there and not there at the same time.

Had this person been the one to save her? Did somebody else manage to escape? Who was it? 

She had to know.

Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Gura attempted to twist her head to the side to look at her probably savior but found that her body refused to move as much an inch no matter how much she tried.

But her effort was not for naught, however, as the presence somehow realized that she was both awake and aware of their presence.

**"Ah,"** came the soft, surprised voice of the presence, **"You can sense me? How in- No... No, considering what happened I guess it isn't that much of a surprise huh..."**

**"Well anyway,"** the presence continued, ignoring the look of confusion that formed on Gura's face, **"You seem like you'll live, might have a rough time for a long time after this, but you're not going to die right now..."**

** "...So that means my job here is done. Later Atlantian, I have more work to do, so I need to get going." **

At those words, Gura felt another jolt shock her body, was her savior really going to leave her here? After saving her? She couldn't! No way! She- She had nothing left! If her savior left her, she'd be all alone... and she couldn't... 

She didn't want to be alone.

And so, in an amazing feat of willpower powered by desperation, Gura forced herself to roll over to her stomach and look towards the direction of her savior, with a plea to not be left alone ready to spring from her lips.

Only for the plea to die before it even left her lips as she locked eyes with Death.

**"You're really are something aren't you Atlantian?"** came the amused voice of Death, **"I would have thought you were too injured to move, but apparently I was wrong, you must be made of quite the sturdy stuff to even be able to move after all you've been through."**

**"It looks like you wanted to say something though, go ahead and say it, I won't bite."**

Gura opened and closed her mouth, trying to process the sight before her, had she been saved by Death? Why would Death save her? And aid Death save anyone else?

All these thoughts and questions jumbled around her head, swirling endlessly and vying for supremacy... but in the end, one, simple, question managed to spring from her lips.

"Why?"

Why?

Why her? Why did Death deign to save her? Why not the countless other people that had their lives so tragically short today?

Why? 

Why?

Why?

As silence hung in the space between them for what felt like an eternity, Death gave a soft sigh and turned their head to look to the side, **"Everything has to end sometime Atlantian, it was just fate that only you had to survive."**

As Gura heard and understood the words of Death, she felt herself suddenly hunch over, as she felt a sharp, deep pain throb in her chest.

She was the last of her kind? The only one left?

She was... alone?

Gura once more began to shake and felt her eyes begin to fill up with tears as she processed the information that she was now all alone in the world.

**"Honestly,** **"** Death continued, looking at the now shaking girl with pitying eyes, **"If it were up to me, you wouldn't be alone like this, but I only reap souls and take them to the afterlife, I really don't get to decide any of this.**

**But, you can't let this stop you At-... Gura, because you have a very, very long life ahead of you... and you can't just waste all of it mourning for the dead...**

**Because the world doesn't end just because someone dies or because a city falls... You may mourn, you may cry, but you also need to learn to love on...**

**So remember this Gawr Gura, Mourn, but Live on. Hold on to that tenacity that allowed you to survive this cataclysm, and accept the end when it comes..."**

By the end of Death's long-winded speech, Gura had already burst into tears, letting out a heart-rending wail that shook the very waters around her as she let her grief run free,

She cried, she howled, she cursed, she wailed, over, and over, and over, until her eyes ran out of tears to cry and all she was left with was the grief in her heart.

What would she do now? Her home was gone, her fellow people, her friends, and her family were all dead, even Death had disappeared in the intervening time she spent crying her heart out.

She was all alone now.

A lone shark in an unfamiliar world.

What should she do? 

What was coming next?

Gura didn't know, and she was scared to find out.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if it fell off at the end there
> 
> I also tried something new here
> 
> please tell me what you think


End file.
